Cough up if you want Villa! Bold Liverpool loan move rejected as Barca hold out for £16m

Liverpool have been rebuffed in a bold attempt to take Barcelona striker David Villa on loan.

The 31-year-old is frustrated at the Nou Camp due to his lack of game time and is keen to come to England.

However, Barcelona will not entertain the idea of letting the Spain international go out on loan and will only consider a bumper transfer offer to sell in this window.

Hotshot: David Villa has found opportunities hard to come by at Barca this term but his goalscoring record with both the Catalan giants and Spain is exceptional

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has already agreed a deal with Chelsea for Daniel Sturridge and is advanced with talks over a move for Thomas Ince. However, that deal has dragged because Blackpool want £6million for a player they bought from Liverpool for £250,000 18 months ago.

Villa was seen as a player of quality and experience who could share the burden with Luis Suarez and fit into Rodgers' ideal 4-3-3 formation having also played on the left for Barcelona and Spain.

Lone furrow: Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers (above) is in the market to
bring in some support up front for Luis Suarez (below), despite his two goals against QPR

The move would have been an exception to Liverpool's normal guidelines with the club reluctant to bring in players who are over the age of 24.

Arsenal were interested in Villa but are reluctant to become embroiled in another bidding war with Barcelona having been told the price would be at least £16m.

Chelsea have been sounded out also but Rafa Benitez is unlikely to move for Villa with other options still ahead of him, despite the breakdown in the move for Demba Ba.

Villa has made 17 appearances for Barca this season and scored five goals. However, he would also be cup-tied in Europe having figured against Spartak Moscow, Celtic and Benfica in the Champions League.